Wow, Christmas is almost here! Only a few more days. This little elf has been very busy in her craft room putting together lots of cards and tags. As you know I am on the design team for Copic Markers Scrapbooking and the last set of stamps we had to work with were all based on the Charles Dickens story "A Christmas Carol". These images are for sale at the store to help you keep Christmas in your heart all year. If you go peek at the link they have a free image to share with you too!
Here is what I created:

Monday, December 19, 2011

All the little children here in Boise have been wishing for some Christmas Snow...but alas, it looks like an endless stream of cold days with sunshiney skies. (Well, along with the inversion!) But in the spirit of all things fun and hopefully adorable, I created this card that I think exemplifies the excitement for the first snow.

The image is another adorable Mo Manning digi stamp. She reminds me of my grand daughter with that happy little face. More details and items used are available below. I am entering this card into 2 challenges.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Hello and welcome to Heartstrings! I am happy to be a part of this wonderful blog hop showcasing all the fantastic handmade ornaments. Thanks to Jess for all her hard work organizing this event. If you have been hopping along from the beginning, you probably arrived here from My Quilling Nest. If you came upon this post all on your own, you can hop on over to the very beginning at KinderstampO.

All of the blogs in this hop have a fun and unique ornament to share with you. We also intend to give one away. In my case, I will be mailing out one of my handmade ornaments to a lucky person who visited this blog and leaves a comment. By leaving that comment you also will be eligible for the grand prize giveaway. Details about what that entails are at Jess' blog as well.

One more thing I would like to mention...as a 2nd bonus to the randomly chosen winner..I will also give away one of my very own stamps from Shelley Bean Stamps. The only extra requirement will be that you please become a follower here and tell me that you did on your comment post. (Also...as a reminder...when I reach 700 followers I have a big box of prizes ready to ship. If you want to participate in that...please read the info at this LINK.)

And now...on to the ornament!!

Here are the supplies I used to create my Vintage Christmas Ornament

I went to the dollar store and bought a tube of plastic, very plain Christmas balls. Choose ones that have a smooth surface. There were 6 in the package for $1. Really, how can you go wrong? Using the Ranger Glue N' Seal I decoupaged little pieces of the Tim Holtz tissue tape all over the ornament. Don't be afraid to be generous in the application. It dries to a nice smooth matte finish. After it was dry, I rubbed a little distress ink into the ball. Next I used a generous application of Distress Crackle Paint. After this was dry I rubbed in a little more distress ink and finished it off with some Rock Candy Stickles.

After some consideration, I liked the look of this ornament but thought it would be just as effective to use regular paper. I bought an old used paperback of Shakespeare a year or so ago just for moments like this. I tore a page into tiny little pieces and adhered them to the 2nd ball in the same fashion. Much more economical and don't tell Tim Holtz, but it was easier to work with than the tissue tape too! Following the same steps...Here is how it turned out!

Here is another look. I love the crackle effect. I hope you do too!

Thank you for visiting my blog today! If you are ready to continue on....please hop on over to Tanya's Blog.
Remember to become a follower and leave a comment if you would like to own one of my ornaments AND own one of my original design rubber stamps.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Good Morning! Here are a couple more fun new images to share with you that recently went for sale over at Copic Marker Scrapbooking! Look back through my last 2 posts if you missed the rest of the release. I hope you take a moment to come and visit the store and while you are there you can also browse through all those amazing Copic markers for sale. Also, there is a free digi image at the Design team blog as well!

We are working on getting some more images ready to share in the next few days before Christmas! Stay tuned!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Good Morning! There are some fun new images to share with you that recently went for sale over at Copic Marker Scrapbooking! Here is day 2 of what I created to share. I hope you take a moment to come and visit the store and while you are there you can also browse through all those amazing Copic markers for sale. Also, there is a free digi image at the Design team blog as well!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Good Morning! The design team has some fun new images to share with you that recently went for sale over at Copic Marker Scrapbooking! Over the next few days I will share them with you. I hope you take a moment to come and visit the store and while you are there you can also browse through all those amazing Copic markers for sale. Also, there is a free digi image at the Design team blog as well!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hello friends. This evening I decided to put together a non-traditional card with a very traditional image. I LOVE this image from Maurie Manning! It makes me feel nice and happy inside when I look at it so it was especially fun to color with my copic markers.

I decided to use non-traditional paper because I liked the way the Bo-Bunny "Welcome Home" patterned paper gave the image a dreamy look that seemed to fade to what could be fog, mist or even snow. It in fact reminded me of home on the Southern Oregon Coast. We would climb the mountain behind our home on what was usually a misty-moisty day to find our perfect Christmas tree.

And the song? Also non-traditional. Joni Mitchell wrote the song in 1971 and it has been covered by many artists since then. I have a couple very favorite versions, the 1st one is by the band, Heart; and the 2nd is here by the artist Sarah McLachlan. Take a listen and I hope you enjoy!

I am entering this card into the challenge going on over at Mo's Challenge blog too: